


The Uniform is Not Enough

by thefrogg



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-07-21
Updated: 2008-07-21
Packaged: 2017-10-10 17:42:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/102374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefrogg/pseuds/thefrogg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the only sane thing to do is go to extremes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Uniform is Not Enough

Lorne stared at the ceiling, the purple-blue-black of the Hive bio-technology bleeding together in his mind. Half-shadowed memories of hissed conversations, screaming and fear roiled; he pushed them away, images burning white-hot in rage and determination.

"Are you certain you wish to do this?" Todd asked.

Lorne's grip tightened on the chair, his knuckles turning white. "Yes. The uniform is not enough."

"Your people will not--"

"My people," Lorne interrupted, teeth clenched, "are a handful of mostly catatonic scientists and a dozen soldiers. The rest are in stasis on God knows how many Hive ships and battle cruisers."

Todd did not answer.

"And."

"Your superiors will not allow you to remain here once they find out." Todd reached out, delicately tracing spirals over Lorne's temple with one finger.

Lorne shivered in pleasure at the touch and closed his eyes. "My having a tattoo will be the least of their problems with me staying here."

"Would it not be better then not to have one?"

"Todd." Gold eyes met blue. "You are assuming I have any intention of going back to Earth."

"But you have family there."

"I have a sister and two nephews back on Earth. They know I'm military, and that there's a good chance I won't come home." Lorne swallowed hard, lips thin. "But here? I have over three hundred friends and comrades waiting to be rescued, and as the only ranking officer free to help, I am not about to leave them behind."

"Will they not order you back to Earth?"

"How?" Lorne's voice cracked. "Atlantis is under strict quarantine. That's what got us into this mess. We don't have the means to contact Earth, except for during supply drops, and we're lucky Rodney got even that much information to them. They aren't going to go to the effort of hunting me down."

"And if they find out you are working with the Wraith?" Todd asked.

"I'm not working with the Wraith, I'm working with you."

Todd snorted, lips curling upward.

"Yeah, I know." Lorne laughed bitterly. "But you're a known entity to them." Lorne sighed, breaking eye contact and turning to look at the wall before meeting Todd's gaze again. "Look, I don't know why you bothered to save me, and the others -- that's not a question," he forestalled Todd's explanation. "If half of what I'm suspecting is true, I really don't want to know. You're a lot more pragmatic than any human's going to be comfortable with."

"You and your people have saved my life on more than one occasion, Major Lorne. It is only proper that I return the favor." It was a half-truth, at best, and they both knew it.

"That's not it. We didn't treat you well when you were in Atlantis. Now you're giving us the Gift of Life so we can recover from stasis, conquering Hives that are otherwise useless to you. I'm still trying to figure out your reasoning behind half the things you did before, and now this. You're making me commander of your flagship, Todd, that's not repaying a life-debt. That's something else." Lorne stopped, reached up and hooked his fingers over Todd's wrist, where it still rested next to his face. "That's something I have to be worthy of, and even if they'd follow a human, your troops will not follow a commander without a tattoo."

"They will follow you because I tell them to."

"That might work in the beginning, but eventually they'll have to follow me on their own."

"And the other 'Lanteans?"

"I can handle them. If nothing else, this will just prove how far I'll go to protect them." Todd's wrist felt cool, muscles and tendons giving beneath Lorne's fingers as he dug them into the skin. "I want this, Todd. Besides, Carter and Weir and Sheppard might be able to turn a blind eye to what we were trying to do to your people, but I can't."

"We feed on your kind."

"You're just trying to survive, and you were in balance before we got here and messed everything up. And we've done nothing to actually fix it. Having a tattoo will help show your people I'm serious about this."

"There is nothing I can say to discourage you from this, is there?"

"No, there isn't."

"Very well then." Todd lifted his hand from the chair; Lorne squeezed once, hard, before freeing him.

Lorne sank back in the chair, shutting his eyes as he listened to the soft sounds of Todd gathering tools.

"I have never done this for a human before, and I know of no one who has," Todd said quietly. "I do not know how much this will hurt, but--"

"Don't worry about it," Lorne interrupted, not bothering to open his eyes. Fingers threaded through his hair, cool skin brushing cheek and jaw before the first of many pinpricks made itself known.


End file.
